Dinner at Rare at Residence

Rare Restaurant at Uga residencies is the ultimate go-to place for a stellar dining experience! From the moment you walk through the main doors, through the courtyard and into the restaurant, you know you’re going to get your money’s worth!

Rare Restaurant is known to serve rich, top notch dishes along with exceptional service and we couldn’t love it more! The items on this wide range of menu are a little on the pricey side, however the quality is just incomparable! They also have signs next to each item on the menu, describing if it is spicy, vegan, contains peanuts and what the signature dishes are, which I found really helpful!

Appetizers

Pan Fried Scallops – LKR 2900

The presentation on all the dishes served at Rare are incredibly on point! Served in a black bowl, this item consisted of about 4-5 scallops, topped off with a delicious ‘Kiri Hodi’ mousse, dried seaweed and barley. As the first dish, this set my expectations for Rare VERY high. The scallops were cooked so well! They were a little chewy and had some bite into it, but you can definitely taste the ocean in the small quantity this dish provides!

Lobster Bisque – LKR 1490

Throughout this post, I’m going to be fan-girling about how good the food at Rare is because, DELISH! The Lobster Bisque consisted of scrumptious poached Lobster meat along with Lobster Foam. The flavors and the consistency in the soup balanced really well.

Mains

Seafood:

Mirissa Yellow Fin Tuna Rossini – LKR 3990

This dish looked like a work of art! Consisting of Foie Gras, Celeriac Purée and Wild Mushrooms, the excitement could not be contained! The color of the tuna meat deepened from outside to inside leaving an interior of red and a golden outer crust. They had also included Goose Liver which was pleasantly surprising! As someone who does not like liver, this meat just melted in my mouth like salted butter! Contrasting with the salty undertone, the tuna meat was slightly sour and tangy, leaving a mix of flavor in your mouth.

Toddy Marinade Barramundi – LKR 2100

Meat with a golden coconut crust, lying on top of some deliciously moist Kiri Bath Dankuda with a side salad of Wilted Spinach and sun dried tomatoes…this dish has A LOT going on! The textures in this dish vary from crispy to soft to moist and the only thing I can say is that you need a little bit of every component of this dish, with every bite you take – to fully savor the multiple flavors you get.

Mirissa Yellow Fin Tuna Salt Board – LKR 2990

This was the highlight of my experience! This dish is super fresh because the Chef at Rare cooks the Tuna Meat on a heated Salt Board! The Salt Board is extremely hot so do be cautious. You can see the meat change color while cooking right in front of your eyes and I assume it gets its salty flavor from the Salt Board as well. This item also comes with a side of rice and Salad that consists of strawberries and grapes!

Mirin Canadian Wild Salmon Steak – LKR 2900

This dish consists of Yuzu Potato Salad, Edamame Beans, Wakame Salad, Shitaki Ragu and Miso. The Salmon Steak on its own will taste very bland however it is meant to be consumed with the salty purée. Just like the previous dishes, one component cannot do without the other so make sure you mix up everything with every bite you take!

Butcher’s Block:

Rare Rack of Lamb – LKR 5400

Glazed with Wild Meemure Honey and Vintage Balsamic with Gorgonzola Mashed Potato, this dish hit the sweet spot! You can never go wrong with Lamb and mashed potato and Rare just took this dish to another level! The Lamb Meat was extremely flavorful, juicy and succulent! I’d recommend a glass of Rare’s finest Red wine to go along with this dish.

Lemon Grass Chicken – LKR 1490

This dish consists of delicious chicken skewered with lemongrass, topped off with Peanut sauce, laid on top of Aged Basmati on a Banana Leaf, with a side of citrus salad! I found the salad very amusing since it had everything citrus-y like oranges, green apples, Star fruit, etc. not to forget the fact that the chicken was incredibly delectable and filling!

Dessert

Poached Pears – LKR 1490

With quite a hefty meal, Rare Restaurant really knows how to keep their dessert light (but not too light). This dish consisted of Port Wine and Vanilla Pod Poached Pears with Salted Caramel Ice cream. The dish had different textures ranging from the crusty bread crumble to the smooth, milk Caramel Ice cream. Definitely made me look forward to more dessert!

Deconstructed Lemon Meringue Pie

This item is not on the menu but you can get it upon request. Living up to the word “deconstructed”, you are able to see and taste every component of a Lemon Meringue Pie. This dish had white chocolate, lemon custard (VERY SOUR), ice cream and meringue mousse! Although it was a little too tangy for my palette, it is a very interesting dish to consume.

Chocolate Mousse – LKR 790

This dish throws every other chocolate mousse you’ve had, straight out the window! Consisting of Himalayan Pink Salt and topped off with Olive oil, I was pleasantly surprised when I didn’t get a spoonful of thick gooey chocolate that the folks usually call “mousse”. The Pink Salt really brings out the essence of the chocolate mousse, although it might be a little too salty for the common palette.

All in all, our experience at Rare Restaurant was amazing! Drop by Rare at Residence to have the best dining experience in the city!

Tip: You need to try to Goose Liver!.